More Resident Evil 5 Details

In what is fast become Zombie day here at the Weekend Gamer, Capcom has finally released some new information on Resident Evil 5 in the latest Famitsu magazine, in anticipation for a new trailer that is to debut shortly. 1up has the summary which you can check out in full on their site. Here’s an excerpt:

The trailer shows two women. One is blond, in a long, red dress, and hard to make out in the images; it seems she and Chris will need to escape together, but the article implies a different approach from the Ashley-escorting sections of Resident Evil 4. The other woman is a dark-skinned beauty who is new to the series. She carries nearly as much weaponry as Chris and looks to be another ally.

In one shot we also see an man through the rusted bars of some kind of cell, hunched over with his arm extended limply; he bears a similarity to the Nosferatu in Resident Evil Code: Veronica, or Lisa Trevor from the original game. In other words, whoever he is, he is most certainly going to be powerful, and is probably a big part of the game’s story.

–WG

Left 4 Dead Gameplay

I’ve mentioned Left 4 Dead before as a game I’m anticipating. Co-Op Zombie Survival (or C.O.Z.S. ;)) is a dream genre for me. The game has been dormant in the media since Christmas, but has risen back up to the forefront this week with several new game play videos.

One thing I’m noticing immediately from the footage is how “PC-ish” the graphics are. I was assuming earlier that this game would be a 360 purchase for me, but the HUD has a very Half Life look to its font and presentation. Perhaps this will be better in the Steam community after all, considering it is from Valve. We’ll have to wait and see.

Check out the vids and post your thoughts.

–WG

Guitar Hero 4 , Wiiware, and Boom Blox

I’d been hearing some good things about Boom Blox, enough so that I decided to look up when it would release.  When I did, I found that it hit retail last week!  I headed over to Gamestop after work to pick up a copy and brought it home. 

This is the first game in a while that really executes the Wiimote well.  I don’t think I could imagine playing Boom Blox on any other system, and that’s the first time that’s happened since Wii Sports.   The premise is a series of puzzles or story mode challenges in which you must knock over towers of blocks by throwing balls or bombs at them via the wiimote.  Strength of throw is determined by the speed of your swing.  There are all kind of little tricks and special blocks that I won’t detail in full, but regardless, there’s a ton of variety in gameplay.  Sometimes you’re even pulling blocks out pseudo Jenga style. 

There’s puzzle like challenges in the single player mode, as well as co-op and competitive modes in multiplayer.  In multiplayer there are a ton of various games, from being in opposing castles and trying to bowl over the competition’s structures, to a air hockey/curling mockup game, and pretty much anything else you could imagine.  I had a ton of fun playing it with Rachel last night, and I can’t wait to try it with four players.  She even woke up this morning and started playing it again.

On the news side of things, a poster on the NeoGAF forumsclaims to have gotten their copy of Game Informer early and scooped out all the detail on Gutiar Hero 4.

Guitar Hero 4 (PS3, 360, Wii, PS2)
- Create a song. Although these exclude vocals due to storage and possible copyright issues.
- You’ll be able to name your song as well as creating album art. After you’ve done all that you can upload it to GH Tunes where anyone can download it.
- You’ll be limited to 5 songs at first. But depending on the ratings you get you’ll possibly be able to upload 10 or more.
- The song sharing mode will be in the Wii and PS2 versions also, but GI says it’s unlikely that it’ll be as robust as the PS3 and 360 versions.
- Drums, bass, vocals guitar
- Create a rocker
- Create a guitar and drums
- All songs will be master tracks
- They don’t want to discuss specifics on track listing out of fear of being scooped by the competition. However they confirmed 4 bands: Van Halen, The Eagles, Linkin Park and Sublime.
- A new guitar designed by Red Octane that includes a new input mechanic that’ll “impact the way you play GH in the future”.
- GI saw see through notes while playing that Neversoft said was the new input mechanic and that they were trying to patent.

I’ve been pretty down on Guitar Hero 3, but the ability to create music is something the community has been looking for for a long time.  The thing that could put Guitar Hero back in the limelight is that fact that they have been releasing a new game every year. 

If Guitar Hero 4 launches this Christmas Season with all those features, exclusive band deals, and create-a-song (and it’s executed well), then suddenly there’s a product out there that trumps Rock Band.  And it doesn’t seem like Harmonix wants to do the yearly release–they’d rather keep releasing tracks once a week.  Which has been absolutely awesome and I love them for it, but could cause problems should GH4 come to fruition in this manner. 

All of that should be taken with a big grain of salt though.  Until GI hits newsstands this is all just a rumor.

Finally, Wiiware has arrived in the U.S., and with it the first couple of games for release on the download service.  The most anticipated of these is Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King, a Sim City meets Actraiser meets final fantasy spin off.  I’d really like to try it, but the 15 dollar price point is stopping me.  Add to this that you only get one race and the others are DLC for 8 additional dollars and it just starts to leave a bad taste in my mouth.

–WG

The Weekend Wrapup (May 9th-11th)

For those of you who missed it, Gears of War 2 had it’s first gameplay footage revealed on Friday night.  You can download it directly from live or watch it here.  Pretty decent looking. 

I’d say Gears is right in the hype pocket right now.  They don’t really need to do anything to persuade me to purchase the game this fall.  I was already sold from the first title.  So I’m glad to see this footage, but I’m also not overly excited about it.  Just patiently waiting for its release.  Right in the pocket, as I said. 

I didn’t actually play a whole lot this weekend, considering all the Mother’s Day festivities and working.  When I did have time, it was to continue my friend group’s Mario Kart obsession, which we played until we were too tired to keep our eyes open on Saturday night. 

Sunday found me playing the Operation Darkness demo, which really surprised me.  It’s a squad based, turn based, tactical RPG, set in an alternate WWII reality that puts 1930’s tech with werewolves and vampires.  Europe is split into east and west and your squad is fighting Hitler’s dark army across the continent. 

I was immediately sucked into the depth of the tactics, almost to the point of getting bogged down.  Breaking my squads into 4’s and then 2’s, pairing up complimentary weapon types, watching line of sight, shooting and then moving, or moving and then shooting to put the drop on my enemy.  It’s an interesting game, with an artistic direction that I appreciate.  Give it a try, and let me know what you think.

I also played a bit of Lego Star Wars with Danielle, which is always good for a laugh.  That rounded up my game playing for the weekend.

Before you drop your game playing on me for this past weekend, take a look at this editorial Eurogamer has posted up about the lessons MMO developers can learn from Call of Duty 4.  It basically suggests that there is a place for massive online games, if they don’t try to carbon copy WoW.  It’s well written and worth your time. 

So, did you get to play what you thought you would this weekend?

–WG

The Weekend Gamer (May 9th-11th)

Well the weekend is once again upon us. I’ve got a whole lot of gaming available, but I’m pretty much paralyzed by choice. I’ll probably see who wants to play what, and let that be my guide.

I’ve been playing some more Mario Kart, but I lent the Wii out to Dave and Danielle for the evening/weekend. I’ve also been playing a bit of Team Fortress 2, achievement whoring like the rest of humanity to finish the medic achievements. I’ve unlocked the first gun, which means I’m 1/3 of the way there. I’m also hoping that my 360 buddies might show up sometime this weekend for some Call of Duty or Culdcept (seriously, break those decks back out!).

I’ll let you know how I did on Monday. How about you? What games are you playing this weekend?

–WG

Harvard Researchers: Video Games Don’t Create Killers

A new book by Lawrence Kutner and Cheryl Olson makes the claim that video games do not turn children into violent criminals. The pair of researchers from Harvard Medial school released a book last month entitled “Grand Theft Childhood: The Surprising Truth About Violent Video Games and What Parents Can Do”, and aimed at putting to rest some of the common myths about gaming. Some good quotes from the article:

“What I hope people realize is that there is no data to support the simple-minded concerns that video games cause violence,” Kutner told Reuters.

The pair reached that conclusion after conducting a two-year study of more than 1,200 middle-school children about their attitudes towards video games.

It was a different approach than most other studies, which have focused on laboratory experiments that attempt to use actions like ringing a loud buzzer as a measure of aggression.

“What we did that had rarely been done by other researchers was actually talk to the kids. It sounds bizarre but it hadn’t been done,” Kutner said.

They found that playing video games was a near-universal activity among children, and was often intensely social.

The book urges a common-sense approach that takes stock of the entire range of a child’s behavior. Frequent fighting, bad grades, and obsessive gaming can be signs for trouble.

“If you have, for example, a girl who plays 15 hours a week of exclusively violent video games, I’d be very concerned because it’s very unusual,” Kutner said.

“But for boys (the danger sign) is not playing video games at all, because it looks like for this generation, video games are a measure of social competence for boys.”

Sounds like a pretty interesting read. I might have to pick it up. Obviously I’m pretty pleased that some reputable researchers are being fair and sensible when it comes to gaming, but I doubt this will convince anyone in Washington. We’ll see.

–WG